Boarding Gate - Film Review
Desire is destructive in Olivier Assayas’s film Boarding Gate (2008). At the heart of the film (explored in a lengthy scene at the film’s midpoint) is a romantic relationship that is premised as much on pain as it is on love. The sado-masochistic games that are discussed and presented reinforce the connection between desire and destruction. This is the major theme in this confusing and difficult drama from Assayas. There is nothing easy in Boarding Gate, it doesn’t offer a straightforward story and much of the action is muddied by the filmmaker’s refusal to explain details. It is a demanding film designed for those who are willing to take up the challenge. Even though the film is often maddeningly obscure, it rewards the viewer with its ethereal mood and beautiful imagery.
Assayas has dressed up the complicated themes of Boarding Gate within the structure of a conventional thriller. With its focus on a young woman dominated by a series of men who are seemingly using her for their own ends, the film plays like a thinking-man’s The Assassin (John Badham, 1993). Though, where The Assassin has a strong script and a powerful narrative trajectory, Boarding Gate favours mood and atmosphere. Assayas only offers the merest attention to the story in his film., Instead, he chooses to focus on the psychology of his characters and explore the relationships they share with each other.
Boarding Gate opens with a meeting between Sandra (Asia Argento) and Miles (Michael Madsen). The viewer initially doesn’t learn much, save for a few details about their former professional and personal relationship. Miles used to hire Sandra as a kind of industrial spy to “socialise” with clients in order to procure useful information. The couple also shared a bizarre sexual connection in which Sandra would relate to Miles details of intimate encounters she shared with clients. Once this sado-masochistic relationship is established we learn that Sandra is seeking to break free from this past in any way possible – including the trafficking of drugs. She has been offered a managing share in a new Shanghai nightclub, and she’ll spend the rest of the film trying to realise this dream.
The narrative is elliptical and confusing and won’t be to everyone’s taste. Much of the dialogue fails to clarify the situation, and the film often seems aloof. Assayas favours intimate talking scenes rather than action, and he underlines many moments with a sensation of brooding menace. Argento mumbles her lines with the contempt of a spoiled schoolgirl while Madsen’s physical presence carries a sense of impending violence. Theirs is an uneasy coupling always teetering on the brink of mutual destruction. The aforementioned scene in which Sandra and Miles verbally spar with each other is the centrepiece of the film. Assayas captures the action in Miles’ apartment which is a melange of window walls and pristine surfaces. The setting creates a sense of claustrophobia that slowly seems to be suffocating the characters under the intense pressure of their relationship. The cinematographer’s slowly moving camera, the directors jarring editing rhythm and the actors’ visceral presence work magically together.
Assayas and Argento are the driving forces in establishing the intense mood of Boarding Gate. Assayas has always presented an elusive vision in his films, while Argento has recently made a habit out of constructing characters with a smoky sexuality. She is an intensely physical performer, eschewing beauty and class in favour of gritty eroticism. Fortunately, Assayas realises Argento’s performing powers and he wisely stands back and let’s her take centre stage. The director maintains his concentration on colouring in the backgrounds with a wonderful command of the imagery. The hazy photography, dreamy lighting and luminescent visual design of Boarding Gate is breathtakingly beautiful and plays up the enigmatic elements of the film. As Sandra slips from one disaster to another the chaos typifying her circumstances is matched by the elliptical editing, hand-held camerawork and enclosed settings.
The film begins to run out of steam in the final act. Though Sandra is a compelling character her circumstances become ever more unrealistic and incredible. Soon the viewer loses interest in her plight and the concluding moments fail to resonate with any emotional content. Though Argento is very good, her character becomes increasingly irritating in her manner the longer the film goes.
It is the earlier scenes between her and Madsen that are really the film’s best moments, and it is a shame that Assayas didn’t spend more time exploring this relationship. For all his poor performances in a series of b-grade movies Madsen is very impressive in Boarding Gate. At times he seems to be channelling the John Wayne (who he slightly resembles) style of “non-acting” in the naturalness of his performance.
Late in Boarding Gate the character of Kay is introduced as a kind of guardian angel for Sandra. She is played by Kim Gordon of the band Sonic Youth (they contribute to the film’s soundtrack). It is a casting choice that sums up the film perfectly. Assayas focus is not on credibility or logic, nor on generic convention, but rather on creating a “cool” vision that is not contained by the establishment. Many viewers may find this approach maddeningly pretentious while others will be intrigued by the unconventional plotting and ambiguous themes. Though Assayas has not made the perfect film and its reception will depend greatly on personal taste, almost anyone can be impressed by Argento’s powerfully grimy performance in the lead.
